My. Charles M. Heea
60-65 Catalpa Avenue
Brocklyn 27, Ns. Y.

Dear Lr. Hesa:

I have your letter of arch 11, coneerning prerequisites for graduate
stuly in Bacteriology. Your letter omitted many details that would help
to evaluate your problem. For example, whe college are you attending--
pethaps you could secure local advice which would be much more helpful
to you. Also, what significance should be attributed to your azcplyins to
me for this information, rather than a formal enquiry to the Chairman of
our Bacteriology Department, or the Dean of the Graduate School? If you
will provide these details, I will be in a much better position to give
you the best anewer to you cquestions, or to refer you to someone who san.

There are some general points that can be made in general terms. The
most important objective of your college life should ba a balanced education:
the learning of habits and techniques of clear thinking, writing ond expres-
sion, ae well as the technology of your chosen field. General requiresents
for a degree in the Biological Division of our graduate school generally in-
clude chemistry through qualitative analysis and organic; a year of college
physics; mathematics preferably through at least one semester of the calculus,
and the equivalent of a usual college major in soe area of Biolocy (but including
ago g rule at least a year each in Botany and Zoology, regardless of tho speciAla~
zation). The detailed organization of your graduate studies themselves will
depend so much on the measure of your previous training, and on your area of
specialization in Bacteriology, that I would not want to custe any generalities.
If you have a concrete program, I will be pleased to suggest its possible defi-
clencies.

You are quite right that a strong background in chemistry is essential in
most aspects of bacteriology, including my own area of bacterial cenetica. How
much emphasis you should give to chemistry in your undergraduate program must be
weighed against other legitinate dezands on your time. Different professors may
be inclined to give different answers. My own inclination would be to reconiend
thet a student concentrate on background subjects (mathematics, physics, chemistry,
general biology-- not excluding genetics--) and Bis cultural foundations for his
undergraduate curriculum, and save his specialization for his graduate worl.
Above all, I suggest that there has been far too much emphasis on students!’ meeting
formal prereculsites, and not encugh on their further self-education through
extensive reading beyond the needs of the classroom.

Yours sincerely,

Josiua Leder.verg
Associate Professor of Genetics